Trinidad James Struggles To Remain Relevant With The Wake Up 2

Trinidad James ensures that people haven’t forgotten who he is by releasing a steady stream of mixtapes since the heavily publicized release from his label. It’s been years since his “All Gold Everything” single (off of his debut mixtape Don’t Be S.A.F.E.) had boom boxes bouncing and record labels like Def Jam calling, but after having a difference of opinions, the storied label was forced to part ways.

The trick to a successful separation on his part would have been to make good mixtapes that portray Def Jam as the losing party by shining with lyrics and creativity, but a few spins of his most recent mixtape The Wake Up 2, make Def Jam look like they must own a crystal ball.

The nine-track offering has song titles like “Collard Green Suit” and “A Lobster Pizza Bitch”. Almost every track sounds jumbled, like he had a few different ideas for the way the song was supposed to go and none of them won out, choosing instead to merge them with no regard for better judgment. He stumbles upon a rhythm every now and again like in the songs “Henny Cup” and “SMBAL” ft. Lyric Wright. The latter has a shade of melody and structure, but honestly it is Lyric Wright who holds that song down.

He sounds like he snuck in the studio and wasted someone’s time. These should be the lost recordings of his career. Maybe he has more in the tank. Maybe he’s refueling for a comeback. One thing is for sure, this is not the mixtape of the year, month, or week.

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